Poem By Marina Manoukian That Depicts The Three Complex Faces Of Joan Of Arc

A simple peasant girl. A fierce warrior. A historical icon. These are her faces.

Marina Manoukian is a reader and a writer who sometimes dabbles in collage art. She currently resides in Berlin. She is pursuing a Masters in English Philology. Her poem "Three Faces of Joan" presents a fresh vision of women through History.

THREE FACES OF JOAN

A girl is born to a peasant family. She says she receives visions from angels instructing her to support Charles VII. That she must help recover France from the English. The visions are hallucinations. She has schizophrenia. She goes as part of a relief mission to the siege of Orleans. The siege is lifted after nine days. Blood is shed. Watershed. Joan gets burned at the stake. 22 years later the French finally win the war. She is considered one of the most impressive figures in history.

A girl is born to a peasant family. She says she receives visions from angels instructing her to support Charles VII. That she must help recover France from English domination. The angels are in fact speaking to her. She obeys direct instructions from God. She goes as part of a relief mission to the siege of Orleans. The siege is lifted after nine days. Blood is shed. Watershed. Joan gets burned at the stake. 22 years later the French finally win the war. She is considered one of the most impressive figures in history.

A girl is born to a peasant family. She says she receives visions from angels instructing her to support Charles VII. That she must help recover France from English domination. No one was speaking to her. She doesn’t hear anything. She lies about the whole thing. It was the only way to garner support and legitimize her behavior to others. She goes as part of a relief mission to the siege of Orleans. The siege is lifted after nine days. Blood is shed. Watershed. Joan gets burned at the stake. 22 years later the French finally win the war. She is considered one of the most impressive figures in history.